The Blues Song
The Blues Song is the 1996 song recorded by Jamshed on the Jamshed and Purge album, although it originally belonged to the unnamed band of Simon Perry, Kerry Logan, Bevan Johnson, and Richard Brewer that would later come to be known as the Big Bad Sad Boys. Written originally by Simon in 1990, and rewritten in 1991 by Simon, Kerry, Bevan, and Richard, the track was unrecorded for some time before it was included in the Gypsys' 1995 album Live at the LeslieDome, and then a proper recording on the Jamshed ''album the following year. Arguably the most successful song in the ''RockLords roster, The Blues Song is responsible for launching the songwriting career of Kerry Logan and being the catalyst behind the eventual formation of the Gypsys and, ultimately, the RockLords themselves. The Story Behind the Story At the start of 1990, Simon Perry invited Kerry Logan over to his house to play guitar and talk about songwriting. The pair had been good friends since their first year of high school and, now at 5th form (year 11), the pair were now beginning to connect musically as well. As Kerry had only just started playing the guitar that year, Simon was the more experienced player and took the lead on the session. He showed Kerry a number of songs he had written including one called O.N.E. and another track simply titled The Blues Song, the latter being a comedic writing about a guy getting trashed at a party and seeing a hot girl. Later that year, the pair joined the Hawera High School musical production of Man of Steel, a Superman parody, and the cast and crew, later known amongst themselves as the 'Dramies', began creating backstage rituals to enhance their team togetherness. One of those rituals came from Simon and Kerry showing them The Blues Song ''and the Dramies quickly picked up on the words and melody of the song, it becoming a singalong classic for the group. Mid-1991 rolled around and the pair were again involved in the school production, this one being ''O' What A Lovely War, and the ritual of The Blues Song returned. This time, however, Simon and Kerry could only recall the first two verses, the original third one forgotten as they had not sung the track since the previous year and had never written down the lyrics. They quickly wrote a third and fourth verse, finishing the song's narrative, which allowed them to introduce the new track to the Dramies group. After the school production came and went that year, Simon and another good friend Bevan Johnson were given a task for their 6th form (year 12) english class, where they could present a song in any way they chose. They decided on The Blues Song and that they would form a band and play it live. They grabbed Kerry to share the vocal and guitar duties with Simon, settled on teaching Bevan the bass for the song, and enlisted the aid of Kerry's friend Richard Brewer (him a year behind the trio at school) to drum for the track. Using Simon's back shed as a practice venue, the group - nameless at this point, but would ultimately come to be collectively known as the Big Bad Sad Boys - started structuring the song musically around the current lyrics-driven form (which is where the credits for writing the track expanded to include the four members). This included a guitar solo, which was decided that Kerry should play it, and he began writing a solo for the song, at this stage unaware of how to construct an improvised solo. (As it turned out, the written solo would serve as a template for backing vocals for the much later 1996 recording by Jamshed.) The song was performed, and the band continued on for a time playing the song, before their breakup later that year. The trio of Simon, Kerry, and Bevan, later joined the 1992 school production of Mr. Cinders and the Dramies ritual returned to form. The song, by this stage, was complete. Lyrics and Chords I went to this party / There was alcohol and booze / We got pissed / Now we got the blues / …Oh, we got the blues This girl walked in / She looked so fine / I walked up behind her / I grabbed her behind / …Oh, I got the blues The girl of my dreams / She turned around / One look from those eyes / I feel to the ground / …Oh, honey please – I’m on my knees, honey This guy rolled on over / Wearing size 20 shoes / She said, “Meet my boyfriend” / Now I got the blues / …Oh, I got the blues What's It All Mean? The obvious comedic spin in the words for the track link directly into the 16-year-old humour that is sparked off things that teenagers are perhaps starting to see more prevalent about their social circles. Parties, alcohol, girls, and the potential mess from the combination of all three in the wrong doses, leads to a humorous look at what the social world sometimes looks like. Either that, or its just a joke. Mathematics With Feeling: The Music The extreme bluesness of the track almost demands that the chords simply be the standard I-IV-V (which they are), and the only thing that sets this apart from most other standard blues numbers is that the verses are a repeated riff in E and the chorus' are where the chords alternate. The only musical piece of note about the song beyond this is the presence of an offbeat at the end of the chorus which leads back into the pre-verse riff. Spectacular stuff! Reactions from the RockLords and Beyond The song debuted as a sing-a-long track for the cast and crew of the various high school productions that ran from 1990-1992, while the trio of Simon, Kerry, and Bevan were performers within the shows. The fervour with which the drama group sang the song was partly due to the ease of melody and simple words, and in part because of the group dynamic that can come from such situations. Regardless of the cause, The Blues Song was sung vibrantly and was embedded in the minds and hearts of the Dramies, meaning that it was easier to sing the following year and beyond. Once the trio had left school, the track continued to be remembered by the Hawera High School Dramies that remained, due largely to the efforts of Justin Clegg to continue the traditions of the group. Despite being two years behind some of the key Dramies that left at the end of 1992 (Simon, Kerry, Bevan, and Paula Davies), he was a key part in the running of the rituals of the group, and was well placed to see them continue. As it was, at the conclusion of the 1994 production of Little Shop of Horrors, he led the whole cast and crew in a vibrant and loud rendition of The Blues Song, the words faithfully recorded on the whiteboard in the backstage drama room, although there was no doubt as to whether they were needed or not. To witness this end-of-season event was Kerry, Bevan, and Richard, three of the writers of the finished song. The feeling that they were left with, witnessing the full and faithful rendition by a group that was largely oblivious to their presence or that they had written the track they sung with such fervour, was a moment that stuck with the three. Previously, in March of 1993, Kerry had performed the song as a solo piece at his father Geoff's 60th birthday party, with friends Bevan and Paula in attendance. The song's legacy continued in May of 1995 as the Gypsys - an improvisational band that ultimately grew out of the ashes of the Big Bad Sad Boys - played the track for their friend Leslie Goodall's 21st birthday. In November of that same year, members of the band were present at fellow Dramie Paula's 21s, and a quick, impromptu trip to get an amp and guitar resulted in a surprise performance of The Blues Song at her birthday celebration. A year later, the song was included on the 1996 album release Jamshed and Purge, where Kerry and Bevan, along with several other ex-Hawera High School friends, recorded the song in a polished form, so it could be remembered forever. Credits Written by Kerry Logan, Simon Perry, Bevan Johnson and Richard Brewer. Gypsys * Produced by the Gypsys * Guitars and vocals by Kerry Logan, bass by Andrew McLoughlin, and drums by Bobby Logan. * Recorded at the LeslieDome, Hawera, on May 5th 1995 and released on the 1995 Gypsys album Live at the LeslieDome. Jamshed * Produced by Kerry Logan and Jamshed. * Guitars, vocals and bass by Kerry Logan, drums by Bobby Logan and backing vocals by Richard Allen, Bevan Johnson, Andrew McLoughlin, Gareth Cooke, Shannon O'Brien, Hollie Weir and Corynne Johnson. * Recorded at Rowan Studios, Kaponga, in September 1996 and released on the 1997 Jamshed album Jamshed and Purge. * Cover photo by Rob Young. Other appearances The track also featured as the Jamshed contributions to the RockLords hits albums The Greatest Band You've Never Heard Of... (2004) and R14 (2007), and then the Kerry Logan hits album First (2007). Links and Such Recordings * [https://therocklords.bandcamp.com/track/the-blues-song-5 Gypsys]: The first recording of the song from the Live at the LeslieDome album * Jamshed: The original re-recording from the Jamshed and Purge album * [https://therocklords.bandcamp.com/album/the-greatest-band-youve-never-heard-of The Greatest Band You've Never Heard Of...]: The Cynosure/Shift hits package that includes the Jamshed version as part of their discography * R14: The RockLords compilation album that serves as a 14-year anniversary of the RockLords group, again featuring the Jamshed version of the track * [https://therocklords.bandcamp.com/album/first First]: The Kerry Logan solo album that effectively serves as his first greatest hits, and features the Jamshed version of the song